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After tumultuous winter, Andrew McCutchen accepts new role with Pirates: 'Reality hits'

Andrew McCutchen showed up Friday morning to face his new reality, struggling to balance pride with pragmatism but also, somewhat reluctantly, willing to embrace that he’s no longer the Pittsburgh Pirates’ franchise player.

So when McCutchen arrived at Pirate City Friday morning like he had for the past 11 springs, it was an undeniably different feeling for a player the club drafted 11th overall in 2005.

Disappointment, he says, can only be tempered by acknowledging baseball does not follow a script.

“One thing I always remember: Frustration is built by unmet expectations,” McCutchen said before joining the Pirates’ first full-squad workout of spring training. “We all have an expectancy of something, but who’s to say it always goes that way? Nine times out of 10, life never goes that way.

“The dream is to be in a Pirates uniform – playing center field until I can’t play it anymore, winning countless World Series, MVPs, All-Stars and all that stuff. That’s great. But reality hits. It’s not necessarily going to always be that way.

“I’ve played eight seasons and haven’t had a World Series yet. The hope in 2017 is to make a push for that. Life doesn’t always go the way you planned it to go. Sometimes you have detours you have to take.”

In this case, the detour wasn’t as extreme as it could have been.

The Pirates engaged with multiple teams on trade talks, most notably the Washington Nationals. Once the Nationals acquired Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox at December’s winter meetings, it soon became evident they would not receive an adequate return for McCutchen, even though he’ll earn a relatively palatable $14 million in 2017, with a $14.5 million club option for 2018.

His value sank in 2016, when over 153 games he set career lows in batting average (.256), OPS (.766, down from .952 just two seasons ago) and stolen bases (six).

More alarmingly, his performance in center field was abysmal, in part because he accepted the team’s data-driven suggestion to play shallower. While defensive metrics aren’t as accurate as offensive statistics, there’s no denying the precipitous drop from his MVP season of 2013.

McCutchen’s percentage of “likely plays made,” as measured by Inside Edge, fell from 100% to 54.5%. His Ultimate Zone Rating dropped from 6.9 to -18.7.

That dragged down his overall value significantly – from 8.4 Wins Above Replacement in 2013 to a 0.7 WAR in 2016.

So McCutchen’s detour wasn’t from Pittsburgh to another city, but rather from center field at PNC Park to a spot in front of the Clemente Wall in right, a move he said the club told him came after a significant data analysis.

Starling Marte, 28, will return to his natural position in center; Gregory Polanco will move to left.

McCutchen will be the only one required to swallow his pride.

“It’s more difficult because I believe I can still play it. I don’t feel like I’m at the end of my career,” he said. “People like to say, ‘Well, Torii Hunter moved to right.’ Torii Hunter was 35 years old when he moved to right.

“I’m 30, I feel like I can still play it and play where I’m comfortable. That’s one of the difficult parts – knowing I can still play it, but I also know we have someone like Marte who can play it better or just as good out there. I just had to be not as selfish and accept that’s what I have to do and move over to right.”

For the Pirates, the move culminated years of consideration, particularly as Marte emerged as an integral part of the club. Now 28, Marte averaged 20.5 defensive runs saved the past two seasons, primarily in left field.

With Pittsburgh coming off a 78-83 season – breaking a streak of three consecutive winning years – general manager Neal Huntington said he had to explore ways to gain an edge.

And so he and manager Clint Hurdle geared up for a series of difficult conversations that began during the team’s final series of the season at St. Louis, continued through the winter of trade talk and culminated in January when McCutchen, against his wishes, accepted the move.

“We worked very hard to provide him with as much information as we could, to respect his dissent, yet when we felt we needed to move forward, we did,” Huntington told USA TODAY Sports. “He disagreed with the move – but made it for the betterment of the team.”

Said Hurdle: “I had to do a fair share of listening. There was no agenda in this. This was about us putting the best team together out there. The way he reacts sets the bar for the rest of the team.”

Those conversations were probably harder for Hurdle. Once one of the game’s elite prospects, Hurdle, 59, played 10 years in the major leagues, mostly as a reserve, and prides himself on respecting his players’ sense of athletic mortality.

That’s an even more difficult concept when it’s a player as decorated as McCutchen.

“I can have empathy for a lot of men in there, because I have had shared experiences,” says Hurdle. “For what Andrew’s accomplished, I have admiration. I’ve never had a Silver Slugger bat, never carried a Gold Glove, never been an MVP.

“There’s a set of human analytics that are real here, that you really need to embrace as well. A player’s perception is real. Players’ feelings are real. Comfort zones are real.”

Despite the tumult, McCutchen seemed to enjoy his off-season, visiting Europe for the first time with his wife, Maria. He says Pittsburgh will always be their home, regardless of where his career takes him next.

It may not be Pittsburgh after 2018, when McCutchen hits a free agent class loaded with All-Stars and future Hall of Famers. The Pirates could turn to top prospect Austin Meadows by then, among other options.

He cited several disrupting factors in 2016, even noting that the club cut the PNC Park grass shorter than previous years – exacerbating his shallower positioning with balls scooting up the gaps.

Yet he knows he’s not the player he once was. And maybe that made his tumultuous winter easier to swallow.

“At the end of the day, I have to look at myself,” he said. “And if there’s an adjustment that needs to be made, I need to make it. Before I point a finger at anyone, I have to point it at myself first.”

The Pirates are grateful he took that long look in the mirror, even if he didn’t care for the shift that followed.

“You don’t have to agree on everything,” says Hurdle. “but you’re not going to disagree walking out the door. We’re going to lock arms and walk out that door together.”

Port Charlotte, Fla.: Tim Beckham of the Rays celebrates as he slides across home plate to score a run during the fifth inning of a spring training game against the Yankees at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Fla. Kim Klement, USA TODAY Sports

Lakeland, Fla.: Blue Jays pitcher T.J. House gives a thumbs up to fans as he is wheeled off on a stretcher to an awaiting ambulance after being hit in the head by a line drive. Reinhold Matay, USA TODAY Sports